Maindrian Pace

Damon looks nothing like Shelby, but if he pulls it off, I'll be OK with it. Paul Walker would have been perfect in the role, but... Seeing it regardless.

The local fire engines are painted a very similar shade of chartreuse, a highly visible color in any light. I don't think I've ever seen that color on a car before. I hope you like attention!

I got the bumper in from Joe a few days back. The Easy Chrome (EC) looks pretty good, very reflective and chrome-like, but not exactly like vacuum metalizing, or for the sake of this discussion, VM. Onto the pics. Here we see the kit bumper, re chromed by Chrome Tech USA, no longer in business. Here is the resin bumper finished by Joe in EC, installed in the car. In these two shots, I wanted to get both bumpers in the same position and lighting so an accurate assessment could be made. EC on top: EC in the car: The main concern that I had was if the layers of paint used in the EC system would obscure details, but it doesn't seem to. This is with application of the base coats with an airbrush, rattle can would not work as well. The second concern was if the EC dulls if rubbed with a soft cloth, as if to remove finger prints. I touched the bumper, then rubbed it off with a glasses cleaning cloth, no damage to the finish. That leaves the appearance. The EC is undoubtedly darker than the VM, and doesn't have quite the same reflectivity or depth of shine. It looks similar to a black chrome finish, though not as dark. Joe used a black base. The chrome is more blue in appearance, and this leads me to believe that if you used a medium to dark gloss blue as your base, the EC would come out a shade lighter, and be closer to the VM. I also would make the observation that the EC looks a bit more like polished aluminum, making this product ideal for '60s car grilles and related trim which were mostly anodized "Brite Dip" aluminum. That together with VM bumpers would give the car a more realistic contrast. In all, I think that this product shows promise, and experimenting with base colors could make it really pop. Thanks again to Joe for the sample piece.

The Panther got a lot better with the suspension redesign in 2003 that included an aluminum front crossmember and control arms, rack and pinion steering, 13" brakes, and 17" wheels. I've driven a few of those, including a rare opportunity to drive a brand new '06 with 45 miles on it, and it was kinda quick (4.6 liters will never really be happy dragging 4,000 pounds around) but the handling and braking were very good, with some penalty to ride quality. Those final iterations were very specialized cars, and the cops I've spoken to really liked them, with the only occasional complaint being power. Practically indestructible, even in police use, many departments still have them in their fleets; including my city of Mesa, some of which are ten years old. They stockpile parts and they have a favorite body shop whose owner is a Panther enthusiast himself, and keeps them looking mint at all times. It is nice still seeing them in traffic.

Still looking for a '67 Falcon body, buy or trade.

Yes, and with optional parts for the aero nose versions.

Fantastic Joe, I'll send it to you in the next couple of days and PM you the tracking#. I'm looking forward to this. -Mike

No, I don't understand what that referred to, it was what the website instructed, and there was no mention of what applications it did or did not apply to. That's why I wanted to know what it looks like on detailed model car parts. You see, on this and any other model car board or group, the members are going to be most concerned about how this product works on grilles and wheel covers, not speed shapes and cartoon model planes - which have scarcely any more surface detail than speed shapes. And as for Pete's pic, it truly does say it all, it looks barely any better to me than Testors Chrome spray paint. It doesn't look like kit chrome at all. So before I lay out the cabbage, I want to see what it looks like on a model car grille. Tell you what Joe, I'll be happy to send you a fresh resin Maverick bumper/grille for you to finish with this product and send back. In addition to supplying return postage, I'll pay you $10 for the service, and then I'll post pics here to show what it looks like on the car and compared to vacuum metalized grilles. Why? Because I want to try it before I buy it. And if it works as you say, I will buy it.

Start scratchin'. You can come up with these quickly and hit them with a Molotow pen, finish the car, and run them until an original comes along.

I paid $9.99 for the Ford hubcaps, $15.36 with shipping, so it doesn't look like it's going to change much.

On their site, they say that 5-6 coats of various materials are required for this system to work. That's kinda red-flaggish on a model car part with lots of fine detailing. The examples shown are large smooth pieces, but we really need to see what this looks like on a front bumper/grille or other elaborate parts before this can be the official chrome replacement product. Vacuum metalizing is very chrome-like and very thin, and there lies its advantage.

Got mine today, they look great... or will when chromed. As soon as I can figure out who to send them to for chrome.

If it's as bad as reported, maybe it does.

Superior job right here. I love these creative heavy duty truck builds based on pickup kits.